Jan 31 The Secret to Fulfilling Your Resolutions

I know. I know. Not everyone likes doing resolutions, mainly because of the stereotype that within 3 weeks, we've thrown them all out the window. You have these high hopes to change a bad habit, start living healthy or spend more time with your kids. Once we fall off the wagon once or twice, we believed we've failed and we give up.

But I'd like to offer a different perspective, if I may. You see, I have found great growth in creating resolutions (goals, changes), even when I don't perfectly stick with them, because, as Zig Ziglar said,

"If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time."

There was a time I jumped on the "anti-resolution" bandwagon because I bought into the belief that it was easier than making goals I couldn't live up to. I was going to free myself from those shackles!! But the truth is, I didn't free myself from anything. I just entered a new prison: the vicious cycle.

The vicious cycle is that pattern you fall in where you're doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Some call it the crazy cycle. I found this to be more of a bondage because I had no direction on where I was going, so I kept going in circles.

And what I learned about not making goals (at any time of year, not just the beginning), is that even not reaching them all got me further than not making any at all. I still grew. I still took shots because I had a target.

When I stumbled, I got back up rather than giving up. Goals are often not met on a straight shot. They are met by simply not giving up. You will stumble. You may have setbacks. You may completely blow it! But that doesn't mean you give up altogether. It means you brush off and start again.

As moms, we have the power to change many things in our home and help our children grow. The New Year offers that feeling of a fresh start and new beginning and it makes me excited about all the possibilities!

The Bible is filled with encouragement and challenges to grow in our faith and put off the "old self." This takes some deliberate effort and a little planning.

We can create goals in our homemaking, in our child-rearing, in our own attitudes, in our spiritual lives. There really is no limit! Now, I don't suggest creating goals in every aspect of life, all at once. I would focus on one or two at a time.

The point is, you will be more frustrated spinning your wheels and getting nowhere than you would creating resolutions (goals) you think you're failing at but are really gaining ground on. What's the big secret on following through on your resolutions?

The secret is to not give up on them, no matter what.

Maybe you took a week or two off from reading your Bible due to sickness in your family--that doesn't mean you can't pick up where you left off and keep going. That is still a win!! That's hitting your goals.

You keep showing up.

I want to encourage you, and it's not too late, to choose one or two goals to aim for this year---and then don't give up on them. It doesn't matter how much time has gone by, it's never too late to begin again and again!

Christin is wife of 16 years to her high school sweetheart and mother to seven children. She looks for beauty in the simple and appreciates a good cup of coffee. She is learning to live everyday with joy, find gratitude in the mundane, and speak words of grace. You can find Christin writing through her days on her blog, christinslade.com.

Christin is wife of 16 years to her high school sweetheart and mother to seven children. She looks for beauty in the simple and appreciates a good cup of coffee. She is learning to live everyday with joy, find gratitude in the mundane, and speak words of grace. You can find Christin writing through her days on her blog, christinslade.com.